When writing this guide, we reached out to the marketer community to collect case studies and learnings about creative marketing strategies. Most of these examples are included throughout the guide, but some didn’t quite fit. So we included those loose ends here, from the perspective of four awesome marketers. What better way to wrap up this guide than with you, our community?

Be aware from January the popup opt in is going to decimate your Google search rankings, so the evergreen welcome mat and overlay (which you’re using on this page on exit intent) are going to be things of the past (unless you want to lose your position in the SERPS…). Time to get rid of the popups now and move to content upgrades inline in your articles (which you do really well in this post!).

Unlike online content, direct mail cannot be ignored. A catalog sits in someone’s inbox, earning attention whether the person buys a product because of the content or throws the mailer in the trash. “It’s worth it to put the time and energy in because you get to sell one-on-one to the prospect with very few distractions,” Simpson says. “That’s why I love direct mail.”

You definitely want to avoid the tactics of spammers and the language that they employ. Loading the email blast with terms like “special offer” or “urgent news” could send up a flag for spam and that will get your email newsletter sent straight to the spam folder. For more information about sending emails that don’t look like spam, check out these email marketing laws for business owners.

A common example of permission marketing is a newsletter sent to an advertising firm's customers. Such newsletters inform customers of upcoming events or promotions, or new products.[11] In this type of advertising, a company that wants to send a newsletter to their customers may ask them at the point of purchase if they would like to receive the newsletter.
You want to have a single purpose for your direct mail piece. Often times the goal of a direct mail campaign is to get the recipient to buy a product or use a service. Other goals can be to send people to your website, get people to enter a contest, or let people know about an upcoming event. Knowing your goal will help you formulate what you want the direct mail piece to say. You also need to consider what the recipient stands to gain from the letter.
For Campaign Monitor customers, you can either manually upload an existing list (from an Excel file for instance) or you can connect your Campaign Monitor account to the tool where your customer data lives (such as your CRM, accounting, eCommerce tool, and hundreds of others) and automatically sync your customer information into your Campaign Monitor account.
A standard industry term used in email marketing to describe the act of "blasting" a message out to a group of hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously, similar to the act of "blasting" a verbal message out with a loud speaker. Typically used to differentiate between two-way email interactions (where a customer emails a question and the company responds), and one-way bulk email interactions (such as newsletters or promotions).
Hi Elaina – Make sure you’re using content in written form in addition to the images. If you’re putting the words of the email in the image itself, then your message may get lost if subscribers read emails as text only. Images are great to add to emails, but the important information should always be written out. Also, remember to include a call-to-action in every email!

QR codes and PURLs: To make landing page content unique to each person, create personalized QR codes or personalized URLs (PURLs). This landing page content can be changed and updated as needed, creating an easy way to keep people coming back for new content. Make sure that your content is using responsive design since people can use a mobile device or PC. You can use the same landing page for both the QR and the PURL, providing the recipient with the choice of which method they prefer.

Word of mouth communications and peer-to-peer dialogue often have a greater effect on customers, since they are not sent directly from the company and are therefore not planned. Customers are more likely to trust other customers’ experiences.[22] Examples can be that social media users share food products and meal experiences highlighting certain brands and franchises. This was noted in a study on Instagram, where researchers observed that adolescent Instagram users' posted images of food-related experiences within their social networks, providing free advertising for the products.[26]

You don’t even have to think you’re a spammer to feel bad. Many of us feel bad just for sending too many emails. Often solopreneurs are downright terrified of sending an email update to their subscribers. They say they don’t know what to say, but I think it’s that they’re afraid, somehow, that they’re bothering their subscribers. They aren’t sure they deserve to be in their inboxes, even if those same people signed up for their emails (through a double opt-in process, of course).

In the 2000s, with more and more Internet users and the birth of iPhone, customers started searching products and making decisions about their needs online first, instead of consulting a salesperson, which created a new problem for the marketing department of a company. In addition, a survey in 2000 in the United Kingdom found that most retailers had not registered their own domain address.[12]These problems made marketers find the digital ways for market development.

Marketers must first determine whether the goal is to retain customers or attract new ones, who their target audience is, and what they’re looking for. They then look to their budgets to determine which direct marketing strategy would work best for them, whether that be catalog, postcard, or email campaigns. Once they know the answers to these questions, they begin to build a strategic implementation plan.

Well written! I’m in Direct mail solutions business. Thanks for pointing out the effectiveness of direct mail campaign in todays digital Age. It’s been used for decades until now. Traditional mailing is just so efective as ever. Direct mail marketing is definitely right especially for people who want to start their own business to build brand awareness in their communities.

Within the past decade there has been a podcasting revolution going on, with the number of Americans who listen to podcasts doubling in seven years. Maybe it’s because they’re just so convenient and so much easier to consume, or maybe it’s because the format is just somehow perfect for storytelling. Whatever it is, podcasting is here to stay and is one of the most engaging forms of media out there.

Customers are often researching online and then buying in stores and also browsing in stores and then searching for other options online. Online customer research into products is particularly popular for higher-priced items as well as consumable goods like groceries and makeup. Consumers are increasingly using the Internet to look up product information, compare prices, and search for deals and promotions.[21]

Targeted mailing is when the advertiser mails to a segmented list of addresses using geographic, demographic, and psychographic filters, among others. While a targeted mailing is often more relevant to the audience and can result in greater engagement and response, it tends to be expensive, especially as you add more refined filter criteria (also known as selects).

Outlook’s Contact Group option can make blasts quicker and more accurate. You create a list by clicking the “People” link, then clicking the “Actions” menu. Choose “New Contact Group,” type a name for the group such as “Customers,” and click “Select Members” to pick and choose the people who should be in your group. Click “Save & Close” when the Contact Group setup is complete.

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Target Corp. inadvertently drew an early line in the sand between good data use and data use that was too personal for customer comfort. In 2012, Charles Duhigg reported in The New York Times that Target addressed a mailer, which featured coupons for cribs and baby clothes, to a high school girl. When her father complained to the company, yelling that his daughter was not pregnant, the company apologized; when the father called back a few days later, he was contrite. “It turns out there’s been some activities in my house I haven’t been completely aware of,” the father said, according to Duhigg. “She’s due in August. I owe you an apology.”

Establishment of customer exclusivity: A list of customers and customer's details should be kept on a database for follow up and selected customers can be sent selected offers and promotions of deals related to the customer's previous buyer behaviour. This is effective in digital marketing as it allows organisations to build up loyalty over email.[22]